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Norman Fong, a pharmacist at Walgreens on Broadway, is vice president of operations for the new school.

Kathy Robertson

Staff writer

A group of local pharmacists and other backers have raised $14 million to launch a pharmacy school in Rancho Cordova this summer, targeting a statewide shortage at a time when demand is growing.

The California Northstate College of Pharmacy has a broader goal to become a top research and development institute on the cutting edge of new drug therapies, backed by its own manufacturing plant.

The school could eventually have more than 600 students, 80 faculty and an annual payroll of $10 million. The group leased space last month on International Drive in Rancho Cordova but is looking for up to 20 acres to build a permanent campus.

"Sacramento is a prime location for a pharmacy school," president Alvin Cheung said. "Legislation and other initiatives impacting health care take place right here in town. The large collection of top-notch medical facilities make it an ideal training ground for medical and health-care professionals."

Two years in planning, the backers formed a limited liability company in January and received state approval in April to operate as a college of pharmacy. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education conducted an extensive, on-site evaluation last week.

Formal approval and authorization to admit an inaugural class is expected in January. If all goes well, as many as 80 students will commence their studies in August.

From Sacramento to Oregon

California Northstate would become the eighth pharmacy school in California and the farthest north. It's expected to draw students from Greater Sacramento to the Oregon border. The closest schools to the capital are at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Touro University in Vallejo and University of California San Francisco.

The need is great and expected to grow as baby boomers -- pharmacists among them -- retire and look to new drugs to help them live longer.

There's a nationwide shortage of pharmacists. California is fourth in the nation for unmet demand, behind North Carolina, South Dakota and Kentucky, according to a study by Pharmacy Manpower Inc. in Vallejo.

"The need in Sacramento is not acute, but it is chronic," said Jerry Mazzucca, president of the California Pharmacists Association and a past president of the Sacramento chapter. "There are more pharmacies coming in; the major chains that have announced plans to expand in the Sacramento region will obviously need pharmacists for seven-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day, drive-through coverage."

The state prison system, state health departments and rural areas north of Sacramento are all scrambling for pharmacists, Mazzucca said. Pharmacists also work in therapy management for government programs and health plans, in acute-care settings and other areas.

"Pharmacists all over the state and the country are expecting a severe shortage, which can potentially lead to waits and errors," said Lynn Ralston, chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists Association.

The Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy at UOP has about 600 students and a "pretty steady" waiting list of 65 or 70 people each summer.

"We don't usually use that whole list," which leaves those not admitted as potential candidates for the new school, dean Phillip Oppenheimer said.

"In the last decade, we've gone from three schools to this one, which makes eight. That's tremendous growth," Oppenheimer said. "Yet I do believe there's still tremendous opportunities for pharmacists as the population ages."

One of three for-profits in U.S.

The bonus of starting the school from scratch is the opportunity to build a new program quickly, California Northstate backers say. The decision to generate investor funding to operate as a for-profit organization helped jump-start the effort.

"We figured it potentially could be run more efficiently than a nonprofit," said Paul Wagstaff, a Sacramento attorney who is general counsel for the school.

About 60 percent of the investors are local pharmacists; the rest are bankers, lawyers, accountants and others who see the need for a pharmacy school in the area, Wagstaff said. No money has been accepted from pharmaceutical companies, but retail chains, local hospitals and others have volunteered to help with the training portion of the program.

Slated to be one of only three for-profit pharmacy schools in the nation, the school hired a renowned scholar and administrator as dean. David Hawkins, a doctor of pharmacy, was hired in June from for-profit South University School of Pharmacy, in Savannah, Ga. He's been on the faculty of five pharmacy schools and three medical schools in 33 years.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to build something from the ground up and incorporate ideas I've had about pharmacy education into the curriculum," Hawkins said. Those include less lecturing by faculty and more critical thinking by students.

"Our mission is to advance the art and science of pharmacy," he said. "The art is patient-centered care; not simply dispensing medicine, but evaluating response and helping achieve optimal outcomes."

The science goes to a goal of becoming a top-tier research and development school within 10 years, rivaling schools such as UCSF in research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Hawkins expects the school to venture into stem cell research and molecular pharmacology, with a manufacturing plant to follow down the line.

California Northstate's unique position as a new stand-alone school with investment backing makes it feasible to "build a gem that's responsive to what the pharmacy community is looking for," Wagstaff said.

Norman Fong, a pharmacist at Walgreens on Broadway in Sacramento who is vice president of operations at the new school, is preparing to work with students when they go out in the community for training with patients.

"I know my limitations. I'm not a trained educator, but I am a trained perceptor," said Fong, who has more than 30 years of experience as a pharmacist. "My interest is community pharmacy and engagement with the customer."

An educational hub

The city of Rancho Cordova is eager to make it happen.

Northstate officials signed a six-year lease for 56,000 square feet at 11081 International Drive on Oct. 22 and expect to expand upstairs when EdFund moves to its new headquarters at Mather Commerce Center.

The school is "close" to having the full 15 faculty members it needs to start classes in August. Tuition would cost about $35,000 a year, and the degree program would take four years.

Ultimately, the school expects to develop a permanent campus with up to 125,000 square feet of classrooms and offices.

"We're working with them very closely and, because we are a young city, we can react pretty quickly," Rancho Cordova economic development director Curt Haven said.

The city already has outposts of several private colleges -- among them Heald College, ITT Technical Institute and the University of Phoenix -- and considers itself an educational hub, Haven said.

The initial school site on International Drive would be across the street from Capital Village, a mixed-use development in the early planning stages.

krobertson@bizjournals.com | 916-558-7869

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